1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disc player such as a video or compact disc player of slot-in type and, more particularly, a disc loading mechanism for loading the disc player with a disc.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the disc player of this type according to the prior art, there is widely used a system, in which a turntable can be so brought into and out of a casing having a built-in mechanism body such as playing means that the player is loaded with a disc recorded with data by first bringing the turntable out of the casing, by placing the disc on the turntable, and by bring the turntable again into the casing so as to play the disc. However, that system is required to have a wide operating space in front of the player and to conduct the two actions of bring the turntable into and out of the player, when the player is to be loaded with the disc, so that it has a disadvantage that the disc loading operation is troublesome.
In order to solve the aforementioned problems in the practical use, attention is being paid in recent years to the so-called "slot-in system", in which the casing accommodating the mechanism body of the disc player is formed in its front side with a horizontally elongated disc slot for inserting the disc directly therethrough into the casing and for taking out the disc directly therethrough after the disc playing operation. The disc player adopting that slot-in system is freed from the troublesome bringing actions of the turntable when it is to be used, as is different from the prior art. As a result, the disc player of the slot-in type has its disc loading and unloading actions facilitated to improve its operability and can be dispensed with any mechanism for bringing the turntable into and out of the player. Therefore, the disc player of the slot-in type is expected to have its sized reduced.
However, the compact disc or the video disc is difficult to handle partly because the disc has no surface space to be clamped and partly because the disc is liable to have its surface damaged if it is subjected to a mechanical frictional force or the like. If the slot-in system is adopted, therefore, there arises to the contrary a technical difficulty that the disc loading mechanism is liable to be complicated and large-sized. From the background of the prior art thus far described, there has not been provided yet a disc player of slot-in type which is sufficiently practical.